"Der Kongress tanzt" takes place during the Congress of Vienna, that took place in 1814/1815 after the Napoleonic Wars, a meeting between the powers that was to set the frontiers of the world.Russia's Tsar Alexander is traveling incognito among the people in the tradition of his ancestor Peter the Great, coming across a witty and charming Viennese glove seller, the young Christel Weinzinger.